About

$130,720

pledged of $30,000 goal

1,809

backers

The Realms lay divided, their former wonder lost and forgotten. The Tyrant Queen has seized the throne, forcing the rightful heirs deep into exile. You are the sons and daughters of the once-great houses: Foxway, Gorga, Mherzeen, and Spyre. Under the tutelage of advisors, you have gathered your followers, your conscripts. The time has come to take back what is yours.

Path of Light and Shadow is a massive empire-building experience, combining area control, deck management, and civilization customization. As players vie for control of The Realms, they must enlist and promote supporters, outfit their burgeoning empire with powerful technologies, align with powerful leaders, and lay siege to rival exiles after the throne. Above all else, each player must decide what type of leader they will become, cruel or merciful. But choose wisely, for each path has its rewards and perils.

Path of Light and Shadow is a massive empire-building game for 2-4 players that plays in 60-120 minutes. Designed by Travis R. Chance, Nick Little and Jonathan Gilmour, it incorporates a number of unique mechanisms with area control, deck management, and tech trees found in civilization games. For more information, we encourage you to view the videos directly below, or simply read our draft rulebook here.

More information about how to play the game, the unique game mechanics and the design decisions made in the development of the game can be found on Board Game Geek:

Promo - an item that Kickstarter backers (and those signed up to get rewards at Essen) will get in their rewards, and will not be included in the retail edition of Path of Light and Shadow. These items may be released at a future date as promotional materials and/or game expansions.

Kickstarter Exclusive - an exclusive item for Kickstarter backers (and those signed up to get rewards at Essen), with remaining stock available through conventions and special promotions only.

Path of Light and Shadow is the 37th project from the combined teams behind Indie Boards and Cards & Action Phase Games. With the successful execution of our first 36 projects, we have become experienced publishers with a reputation for great games (in design and production) that are delivered in a timely fashion.

Path of Light and Shadow was designed by the talented Travis R. Chance, Nick Little and Jonathan Gilmour (Dead of Winter, Dinosaur Island, Vault Wars). This game has undergone two years of extensive testing and development to ensure the best possible experience. We are confident that this game will be in your collection for years to come.

The game features countless pieces of high quality art from the incredibly talented Beth Sobel (Lanterns, Between Two Cities, and Coldwater Crown).

Path of Light and Shadow provides an incredible amount of replay value and highly diverse strategies within 90 minutes of play.

The game scales very well for all player counts, including two-player.

All of the art assets are complete and ready for immediate upload after the project funds. Prices include US shipping.

This project is also EU & Canadian friendly.

Kickstarter is the world's largest funding platform for creative projects. Every month, tens of thousands of people pledge millions of dollars to creative projects in dozens of categories.

A person who supports a project is called a "backer." The process of giving money to this project is called a "pledge."

In return for your pledge, we (the creators of the campaign) are able to offer "rewards," depending on the amount you pledge. For example, if you pledge $69 to help back the project, we'll offer you a copy of the game along with any stretch goals we achieve as soon as it is manufactured.

You can become a backer in just three easy steps:

Step 1: Read through the pledge levels and rewards we're offering in the right sidebar of this page.

Step 2: Click the large, green "BACK THIS PROJECT" button to the right of the trailer video at the top of this page.

Step 3: Enter your pledge amount, and complete the steps for filling in your information. This process takes just a few seconds! That's it! It's really that simple! Thank you for backing!

Once you've backed this project, we encourage you to share this page on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, and share with your friends and family. Also, be sure to like Indie Boards and Cards on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for real-time updates about this project and more!

TRUSTED FOLLOWER: (Pledge $1 or more) Thanks for the support!

NUMERAI WANDERER: (Pledge $69 or more) One copy of Path of Light and Shadow with all stretch goals. Shipping included in the US. Other shipping pledge rates based on location. For additional copies in the US and international, check our rates below.

Our plan is to have Path of Light and Shadow available at Essen. While our current production schedule looks like Kickstarter rewards will ship out before Essen, it may be the case that we have games at Essen before the Kickstarter backer copies are sent. It may also be the case that we are unable to get games to Essen in time. I wish we were able to absolutely guarantee results, but we simply know that we can't make such commitments when so many other parties are involved in the process.

If you want Essen pickup – DO NOT PLEDGE FOR THIS PROJECT – all you have to do is sign up for the Essen email list by giving an email address here. Shortly before each event, we will ask you what you would like to reserve for Thursday pickup (NOTE: we cannot handle prepaid reservations or hold items past Thursday).

All the specials & promo items will be available in the games we bring to Essen – your support is very valuable to Indie Boards and Cards & Action Phase Games and we look forward to seeing you again this year with lots of great new games.

Risks and challenges

This is the 37th Kickstarter project from the combined teams behind Indie Boards and Cards & Action Phase Games. We have learned how to streamline the game publishing process and have successfully delivered all of our previous Kickstarter projects to thousands of supporters. Our previous experiences will enable us to also deliver this project on time and we have every confidence that Path of Light and Shadow will be on schedule and of the highest possible quality.

That said, there are always complexities and considerations in a project of this scope that may cause delays. Indie Boards and Cards & Action Phase Games will use contract manufacturing to make this game, freight forwarders to get games through customs, and 3rd parties like Amazon, the US Post Office, and FEDEX to ship the games to you – we don't control everything and there are lots of opportunities for delay. We have a track record of making everything work out for backers in the end – so please be confident and supportive of our efforts to get this great game into your hands.

REFUND POLICY

We can refund you within 14 days of the campaign’s end, fees included. After that, we have a policy of no questions asked, though that’s minus 20% for Kickstarter and payment processing fees (which we can’t get back from them after 14 days). However, if we’ve begun packaging your pledge for shipment (usually 4 to 6 weeks before the actual shipping date), no refunds are possible. If a component cannot be delivered AT ALL, we refund that completely, including fees.

All refunds after the 14 days close of the campaign may be processed via PayPal or reversed via Stripe to your credit card at our discretion. Refunds within 14 days are reversed via Stripe to your credit card.

This project is being funded in USD and any refunds processed will be in USD for the exact amount received in USD, excluding any applicable fees depending on the time of the refund being processed.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

By pledging to this project, you acknowledge that the final look, materials, and content of the rewards (and the project) are subject to change and may differ substantially from what is presented while the Kickstarter project was active.

If you do not log in and submit your project survey results (ie, provide us with your shipping address) for your pledge within 8 weeks of our notification, you agree that we have fulfilled our obligations to you in full for payment or donations received. However, we may, at our discretion, refund or ship your pledge (at additional cost for international backers) if you complete your project survey after the 8-week window has elapsed.

If you do not accept these terms, please do not pledge on this project but instead wait for the general release.